Jr High Breakout

September 5th, 2018
7:00 – 8:30pm
6th-8th Grade

The first Wednesday of every month we do a Jr High Breakout. Jr High Students worship with the whole group and then break out for a time of small groups. The get an abbreviated version of the message and then a time to discuss the teaching with a leader an each other.

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Imagine living within a walled city that is under siege by an invading foreign army. Soldiers are walking around on all four sides of your city strategizing about an attack. They have cut off your food and water supplies. You stare at the prospect of death at worst or becoming their slaves at best. When they launch their attack, you and your family will be subject to untold evil. Impending doom has consumed the minds of the entire city, but all you can do is sit and wait. You are forced, by circumstances, to be on the defensive. Your fate lies outside of your control. Can you outlast the enemy?

While we don’t know the exact historical details surrounding the 46th Psalm, they were written to those of us under siege. This is a Psalm of comfort to those under siege in a war torn part of the world or those under siege from disastrous personal circumstances or those in an emotional nightmare that shows no hint of going away.

The psalm opens with a blast of light into the doom and despair of our situation:

Psalm 46:1 NLT

God is our refuge and strength,

always ready to help in times of trouble.

During the siege of Vienna in 1529, this Psalm is what inspired Martin Luther to write his immortal Reformation hymn A Might Fortress Is Our God. We may be “in” trouble, but we are not outside His care. Our resources may not last, but His strength will.

The message in vs 4-7 parallels with John’s vision of heaven recorded in the book of Revelation. Above the tumult of earth’s desperate conflicts, is a pristine city. Our world may be chaotic, but not His. This psalm lifts our attention from what is under siege toward the eternal city of God and our ultimate hope of home.

Psalm 46:4-7 NLT

4 A river brings joy to the city of our God,

the sacred home of the Most High.

5 God dwells in that city; it cannot be destroyed.

From the very break of day, God will protect it.

6 The nations are in chaos,

and their kingdoms crumble!

God’s voice thunders,

and the earth melts!

7 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies is here among us;

the God of Israel is our fortress.

This seventh verse should calibrate our hearts regardless of what is under siege in our lives. The Lord is with us! And with his presence comes the host of heavens armies. Your Heavenly Father is leveraging all heavenly resources to fight on your behalf. Run to Him. He is your refuge. He is also your very capable defender and protector.

Lord, in this season, my soul wants to do everything but be still. It feels as if so much of my life is under siege. But I have hope today because of your constant presence in my life. I find safety in the refuge of your presence. I find security and strength in your shelter and defense. Today, I choose to rest in you.

At the beginning of 2017, I felt the word God gave me for the year was the word “joy”. I thought, “What a great year this is going to be! Joy! That is awesome!” Then, ten people connected to us passed away in the first 10 months of the year. I thought, “At this rate, no one is going to want to hang out with us.” Then, two hurricanes devastated areas were our family and friends live. Two earthquakes hit Mexico, affecting the family and loved ones of people in our church and in our community. Monsoon rains came to India, devastating areas in the north of India where we have done ministry for the last five years. We had two kids in college. We transitioned to empty nesters (that didn’t last long, my mother-in-law moved in with us). We had changes in ministry roles. For us, it was a difficult year; a year of change, a year of loss, a year of tragedy. A difficult season to believe, to trust and to pray. A year when things didn’t go as planned. I felt like our faith was being tested and our beliefs shaken to the core.

Many times, it is so hard to believe in the promises of God when things don’t turn out the way you expect them to.

It is hard to dream when you have lost your job or you are overlooked and don’t get that promotion. It is hard to hope when you find yourself in the middle of a divorce. It is hard to expect when you have been single for a while and there are no good prospects in sight. It is so hard to believe when your children are not making the right decisions. When retirement does not turn out to be what you thought it would be. When you don’t know how you will get out debt or how you will pay next month’s rent. How difficult it is to declare freedom when the addiction that nobody knows about is killing you inside. How difficult it is to pray and believe for healing when your body is afflicted with a long-term illness. How difficult it is to declare that the Lord is your banner when you don’t know what decision to make. How difficult is it to hope when your world seems to be falling apart. How difficult it is to believe when your dreams seem dead.

But God knew we would have moments like these in which it would be hard to believe and difficult to hope. Moments where we would become so aware of our dependence on God and our need of an updraft of grace.

In Romans 4:17-25, Paul gives us an example of what to do to get into that updraft of grace. He recounts part of Abraham’s story. “As it is written: ‘I have made you a father of many nations.’ He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.”

Paul is saying an updraft comes when, against all odds, you choose to believe in the God that gives life to the dead and calls into being things that are not; that God that makes something out of nothing.

Paul gives us another cue to get into the updraft. He says, “believe against all hope”. Romans 4:18 says “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.” This doesn’t mean deny your physical reality. It just means that you are fully persuaded that God has the power to intervene in your situation. You position yourself in that place of belief that doesn’t deny reality, yet stubbornly trusts God.

For all of us, there are moments when things don’t turn out the way you expected them to. So, make the decision beforehand; be prepared with your response. Say, “When things don’t go my way, I choose to believe in the God that gives life to the dead and makes something out of nothing. Yes, this is how I will act!”

You may be facing adversity today and there may be a big impossibility in front of you, but God says hope, trust, and believe against all odds.

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Recently, most Americans were shocked because a seventeen-year-old girl was strong and acted courageously. She jumped from a window in her parents’ home and used a deactivated mobile phone to call 911 and report abuse. Some of her 12 siblings were shackled to items of furniture and all were kept in deplorable conditions, which authorities described as a torture chamber. The siblings ranged in age from two to twenty-nine years.

Can you imagine that girl’s fear as she thought and planned, as she was escaping the home, and then making the call, all the while wondering if the authorities would believe her? But, she did it. She mustered the strength and courage, overcame fear and now she and her emaciated siblings are finding new freedom and hope for a life they can choose.

What drove her to such action? Possibly desperation fueled by anger and hunger! Maybe she said to herself, “There has to be something better than this,” or “This isn’t right!”

Some situations or circumstances that might initiate acts of courage are: desperation, fear, anger, necessity, mistreatment or want. On the flipside, it might be: vision of something better, a promise or knowledge of what is coming.

Courage in Deut. 31:6 is future oriented (most times this is true of the need for courage). Yes, sometimes we have to have courage to face our past, but it is with the hope that our future can be freer, healthier and more positive and productive.

So be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid and do not panic before them. For the Lord your God will personally go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor abandon you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NLT

Moses, speaking here, was telling Joshua what God had revealed about what was ahead. It was a prophecy about what was to come. It was specific, “The Lord will destroy the nations…The Lord will hand the people over to you…” The promise wasn’t conditional, it was concise and clear. The Lord WILL!

Then Moses said, “So…” A two letter but powerful word. In other words, “You can be courageous because God has spoken, He has declared.”

Northplace, let’s continue to rise up “as an army” of God because He has spoken, because He has promised, because He has given our pastor, our leaders, and our church, His word about being a “change-agent” church, a church that influences and alters our community, our neighborhoods and yes, the world!

For you personally, what nugget has He dropped into your heart? What word do you have that He has spoken to you? Something about your future, a hope or a promise that would be a miracle–that would possibly change your life, restore a relationship or liberate you?

Hear that inner voice whisper to you: “SO — BE COURAGEOUS AND STRONG!” Take the promise and see the victory God has placed before you!

Sometimes courage is taking the first step even though you can’t see the top, but when you have God’s word, in faith, you see the end even before the beginning!

“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see…” Hebrews 11:1

This devotional is meant as a companion to Psalm 136. We recommend having your Bible open on Psalm 136 as you read today’s post.

I remember the first time I read Psalm 136 in a congregational setting, I was a teenager. The pastor asked everybody to open their Bibles, to follow along and to recite in unison every other line. It was the same line over and over, “His love endures forever.” It wasn’t the first time I had seen a call and response, though normally call and response time included a lot more shouting, screaming and demonstrative actions. What I experienced that day was more methodical. I thought it was pretty interesting, definitely out of the ordinary for our normal service practices. There was a pattern, it had a rhythm to it.

The Rhythm of Thanks

Psalm 136 is congregational in nature. It’s believed that a leader, most likely a priest, would recite the first part, and the congregation would follow with the response, “His love endures forever.” There are certain translations that use the phrase “His faithful love endures forever” because the root the of word “love” in this passage, implies loyalty – faithfulness. In that context, it reminds us of the covenantal nature of God with his people – us, under the covenant that we have established with God through Jesus.

Psalm 136 is divided in five sections that walk you through a rhythm of thanks. These five sections make a great guide, one that you can use every time you’re giving thanks to God. I hope this rhythm of thanks will be present in your prayers today.

Give Thanks Because He Is Superior In Nature (vs. 1-3)

Rest assured, God is bigger than any god; our Lord is bigger than any lord. You can give Him thanks because His greatness is evident and sufficient.

Maybe in our society people aren’t bowing down to hand-made idols, but there are all sorts of gods that have penetrated the culture. Money, power and sex are three of the most common gods that people bow to. The illusion that having those three in great measure will fulfill all your needs has been bought by far too many.

When we’re in a covenantal relationship with God though, we must declare His superiority over any other god; recognizing that we shall only bow before the one and only Lord of all, and not before empty man-made illusions.

Give Thanks Because He Is The creator (vs. 4-9)

The second part of Psalm 136 reminds us of the greatness of God’s work. Give thanks for the earth, of which He laid the foundation. Give thanks for the skies, of which He painted. Give thanks because He alone does mighty miracles. Praise Him because only He is capable of such beauty and magnificent work.

God made man according to His image. If this is true, then we also have to give Him thanks for putting in us the ability to be creative; the ability to pursue new things. Give Him thanks for the drive that He has put in you to discover new horizons.

Give Thanks Because He Cares (vs. 10-16)

The third section of this psalm would remind the Jewish people of their past deliverances. Here we see a recollection of the big events from which God delivered Israel. He delivered them time after time because He cared for them.

When we live in a covenant relationship with God, we see that he is faithful and looks to be even in the smallest of our endeavors. As the old hymn goes, “His eye is on the sparrow, He watches over me.” Give thanks to God because He cares about you; because His eye is on you.

Give Thanks Because He Conquers (vs. 17-22)

He doesn’t just care for your well-being, He conquers for you. In the same way that we see him going before the people of Israel in this section, He is warring before you. He is constantly fighting for you.

His word says that we are more than conquerors, but we can only be more than conquerors through Him. So, give thanks to God, that through Jesus we can achieve victory; only in His name!

Give Thanks Because He Provides (vs. 23-26)

The translation of verse 23 says, “He remembered,” but there’s more to it in context. He didn’t just do a mental recall of His people; remembering implies that God acted and provided supernatural strength for His people. The same strength that when we call out to Him, He is willing and able to give us.

Be confident that He can supply your every need. Give him thanks for that.

What If I Don’t Feel Like Giving Thanks?

There will be times when you don’t feel like giving thanks. There will be times when circumstances have run the course of your patience and you feel as though you are asphyxiating. May I remind you that it is when we go through the valley of the shadow of death, when we need to give him thanks the most. Maybe we don’t have to give him thanks for the valley, but we can give him thanks that He’s still there with us. God is willing to step into our mess and not leave us, even when others have.

I encourage you to call out His name with thanksgiving today; both for who He is and for what He’s done. Give thanks, because you can be confident that He is superior to all. Give thanks for the things He has created. Give thanks, because He’s willing to have a proximate covenant with you; He cares for you. Give thanks because He goes before you, conquering what you cannot conquer on your own. Give thanks because there’s no provision outside His. And when you need him, He is active to supply your need.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4 (NLT)